Savannah.....

Old southern cities are truly interesting places.  I had never heard much about Savannah.  I never watched "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" and was unaware that "Forrest Gump" and "Glory" were filmed there, among many others (our campground offered a shelf of movies filmed in Savannah that one could borrow for free - there were at least twenty of them).  Hubby, however, is a move aficionado.  Hence his desire to see Savannah.  I'm the literature girl.

If I had my 'druthers, I'd pick a destination, go there, and see all there is to see.  I like to wander around on foot, map in hand, going in and out of stores and museums and parks.  But a road trip is like a wine tasting tour. You rush in, take a few sips, get drunk on the experience and hope you remember what you liked the best so you can go back someday and focus on that one thing!  That being said, despite the sometimes-corniness of the public tour business, taking a tour is frequently the best way to get the lay of the land.  For Savannah, there are trolley tours.  Dozens of them. We picked one at random and got an informative and extremely amusing tour guide ("Honey, the accelerator is under your RIGHT foot.  Don't get in my way - I'm bigger than you and sometimes size DOES matter, bless your heart!")

Unlike Charleston, where the historic district appears to be small-ish, Savannah sprawls around at least 24 squares.  Each square has an historic statue.  Each person represented in the square is facing the direction of the enemy he defended Savannah from.  For example, the commander of Fort King George faces South to defend against Florida.  The Civil War Generals face North and so on. 

Savannah has a lot of historically preserved homes, and in the historic district, if you are going to build something new it has to look old.  They are very egalitarian in what they preserve.
Theaters:

There are people in various period costumes who come onto the trolleys to tell their stories.  This lady was an actress who married money and became and abolitionist:

They think it's important to remember where the pirates use to hang out and drink:

 

Their first Ford dealership is still in business (but not selling Fords):

Itty bitty 500 square foot houses sell for over half a million.  They deserve preservation too!

 They have their own version of Rainbow Row.

 

They thought they had the first cure for migraines;

They have some AWESOME restaurant décor:

I had no idea that Savannah is the third largest seaport in the US.  They are currently adjusting the harbor to manage ships with 1000 foot draft to match what will be able to pass through the upgraded Panama Canal.

They have entertaining fountains.  You don't see many Griffins outside of my home town, where they are the High School Mascot.  Go Griffins!

And like all good Colonial cities, it has a George Washington-slept-here-and-gave-us-a-pair-of-cannon story.

 

I am sure Hubby's camera has a shot of Forrest Gump's park bench.  The statue from "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" has been moved indoors to protect it from crazy tourists, who were chipping off pieces as souvenirs.  People are idiots.  Damn yankees.

 

DeeDee